Every year in the U.S., approximately 500,000 people walk out of prison to start a new life.

In 2015, 20.5 million Americans 12 or older were struggling with a substance use disorder.

More than 500,000 people – 1/4 of them children – are homeless in the U.S.

In 2011, Loyola's David Olsen collected statistics on Cook County domestic violence. He found that 12.7% of Cook County Jail admissions were domestic violence charges. The only category that outranked domestic battery was possession of controlled substances.

By June of 2017, 323 people died in Chicago violence.

But there is hope. Chicago's social-service and art-based nonprofits are fighting the good fight to improve the lives of Chicago's most vulnerable citizens.

For a taste of what's happening in Chicago's nonprofit lit scene, check out the Chicago Literacy Alliance, an association of 'more than 100 organizations helping to meet literacy needs for people of all ages and backgrounds.'

According to findings by the leading researcher on the power of writing and journaling for healing purposes, James Pennebaker, PhD, of the University of Texas at Austin, '...expressive writing occurs on multiple levels–cognitive, emotional, social, and biological–making a single explanatory theory unlikely. However, there is little doubt that writing has positive consequences, and self-report studies suggest that writing about upsetting experiences produces long-term improvements in mood and health.'